Tracking down the location of an individual within a large enterprise such as a hospital, manufacturing unit or globally distributed organization is typically a difficult task. For instance, in a hospital, should there be an emergency it would be essential to ascertain the location of a particular doctor and contact the doctor on an immediate basis, as quickly as possible. Again, in manufacturing units or globally distributed organizations, there is a need and the ability to locate an individual quickly increases productivity.
For example, an individual within an organisation may be contacted using a telephone contact number. However, should that individual be away from the desk or specified location, it may not be possible to contact that individual telephonically. Now-a-days, mobile phones are useful for contacting individuals who is on the move, but again unfortunately not everyone carries a mobile phone.
Furthermore, another easy way to contact individuals within an organisation is via an instant messaging client. Should that individual be away from his desk, the instant messaging client is typically configured to reflect the status of the individual as being ‘away’ but provides no further indication of the individual's location, unless the user specifies where they may be available depending on the current program conditions, which may not be the specified location to find the user as these conditions are subject to change dynamically.
A need therefore exists, for a location tracking system to substantially overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements.